


You, Me and the Whiskey Bottle

by denorios



Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-09
Updated: 2010-08-09
Packaged: 2017-10-11 00:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/106221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denorios/pseuds/denorios
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris drinks, Vin cleans up the mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You, Me and the Whiskey Bottle

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, as always, to my wonderful beta, farad.

Chris has five levels of drunkenness, and Vin has seen them all.

There's the slightly tipsy Chris, who smiles a little more easily and likes to whistle unrecognizable tunes off-key. He swears they're old folk songs his mother taught him, but no-one else can decipher a melody amongst the noise, and Vin just grins and humors him. Sometimes he plays along on his harmonica until Ezra protests and pitches it across the saloon. After Chris retrieves it he pats Vin's knee and whispers that no-one else appreciates good music.

Then there's the rowdy good-natured drunk who steals Vin's hat and ruffles his hair and once hooked an arm around his neck and planted a wet sloppy kiss on his cheek. This Chris is affectionate and tactile, and he likes to touch Vin most of all, just to see him blush. Vin bats Chris' hands away, shoves him playfully with an elbow or hip, but it's this Chris Vin's thoughts return to most when he's alone at night.

If he has a few more drinks, Chris gets aggressive, bristling like a porcupine and picking fights with strangers over imagined slights. Vin and Buck exchange glances over his back, intervene as subtly as they can and steer Chris back to the relative safety of the whiskey bottle and the poker table. Buck distracts Chris with laughter and jokes whilst Vin takes the bullets out of his gun.

He gets morose next, talking about Sarah and Adam in short clipped sentences, staring across the room at something no-one can see. Sometimes he talks about Ella, and Vin has to walk away, stand outside the saloon, gulping in deep breaths of night air and forcing his fists to unclench.

The last stage is the worst, but mercifully it's also the shortest. Chris can barely stand, certainly can't shoot straight, and he swings wildly at whoever happens to be nearest. It's usually Vin. He's ended more than one night with a black eye and bloody lip, but his knuckles are clean and unmarked. He straightens the room before he leaves with the dawn, hangs Chris' gunbelt within easy reach and brushes the dirt off his hat.

In the morning Chris won't remember how he got to bed and Vin hides the bruises under layers of flannel and buckskin and blames the rest on a bar fight.

Chris offers him coffee and a smile, and if there's an apology and thanks somewhere between the two neither of them mention it.


End file.
